General Particle Tracer : A New 3D Code for Accelerator and Beamline Design

We report on the particle tracking package General Particle Tracer (GPT). GPT is a new computer code to study charged particle dynamics in electromagnetic fields. To ensure both accuracy and speed, a fifth order Runge-Kutta method with adaptive stepsize control is used to solve the particle’s equations of motion in the time domain. Any additional differential equations can be solved while tracing the particles. The code is completely 3D, including the space-charge model. GPT uses an input file language supporting variables and expressions to describe the simulated set-up. Additional features include the complete freedom in initial particle distribution and the flexibility to position and orient all beam line components individually. Separate utility programs are used to calculate macroscopic quantities, produce ascii/graphical output and automate parameter scans. GPT is written in ANSI-C for portability and runs on Unix platforms and PC’s. Applications demonstrating the capabilities of GPT are presented.